UCCFS: Reuben vs Bologna & Cheese Round 1
I love a good sandwich and these 2 are tops from my childhood. Matter of fact, I brought to school a bologna sammich many school days. I loved the mini Arnold rolls with some spicy brown mustard or hot dog mustard relish. I used the big German bologna which was by far my favorite. When I used cheese it was provolone not American like most kids selected. That didn’t work for me. Such a simple sandwich, but it was cheap comfort food for a kid.
Then there is the Reuben. In NY it is one of the “sandwiches” you have to try from a good NY Delicatessen. The sandwich is piled high usually with warm corned beef or pastrami, juicy sauerkraut, melted swiss and some Thousand Islands salad dressing. There are tweaks in each variation like sliced turkey or a combination of meat. You can change up the meat, the cheese, the kraut to cole slaw, grill it, panini it or just have it served warm between some untoasted bread.
The bread makes the sandwich even more than the contents within. The wrong choice of bread and you got a lifeless sandwich. It is like perfect cheese and sauce on gummy pizza dough. It don’t work. As a NYer, I prefer rye bread, specifically with caraway seeds. That goes for the bologna sandwich too. Make the sandwich much like a grilled cheese with some butter in the pan and brown both sides of the rye. I have also had both sandwiches made with a bagel. Not bad if the bagel is from a good place, but the issue is not having the filling slide out.
Unlike the cooked Reuben which is made for thinner bread, the bologna sandwich can be eaten cold or warm and with any kind of bread or roll. I love to use Italian bread like you find at Subway or any sandwich shop. Pile it with provolone, lettuce, tomato, hot pepper relish and oil & vinegar along with my spicy brown mustard. It pairs well with other meats too like salami, capicola, prosciutto and ham.
It makes a nice sammich.
The Reuben is simply mouth-watering. Not sure why the kraut works so well is this sandwich but it does. The dressing and cheese do so well to blend the flavors together with the corned beef, pastrami, turkey or whatever you choose. The crunchy, toasty bread adds to the experience with every bite. If you have ever had a bad Reuben most likely it turned you off because they can go bad if not put together right. When it is right, it is one of the great sandwiches in the world.
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I’d love to try a NY deli reuben. I’ll get reubens whenever we stop somewhere new to us. I figure if they can make a good reuben, they’re worth going back to another time. My theory has proven to right many times. As far as a boloney sammich, G&R Tavern in Waldo, Ohio has the best fried bologna sandwich I’ve ever had. They can be googled and read about. G&R has some wicked pie as well!
Here’s a website for G&R if any one is interested. Not far from Columbus, OH. http://www.gandrtavern.com
I have nuked my Bologna, but never fried it. Eggs ‘n Bologna is popular in the Jewish culture.
If I have to eat bologna, then it has to be fried. I would rather take the bologna and put it on marbled rye with sour kraut than white bread and mayo.
I don’t think i have tried any of these 🙂 but the Reuben looks good . Just need those pickles and some pepperoncini on it.
Nothin beats a good Reuben!
…and the votes are proving it, at least against the bologna & cheese.
Personally, I think that while a lot of us as kids grew up with bologna, it was always deemed a “cheap” or “crappy” food that was used by parents to save money when they didn’t want to buy “better” lunch meat.
Don’t get me wrong, there’s nothing wrong with bologna, especially when it’s added with some good genoa salami & ham and some Race City Sauce Works Lucky Dog Habanero Mustard to make a killer combo deli sandwich.
Bologna on white sandwich bread (the way I had it as a young’un) against a Reuben? Not a chance.
I totally agree with you on bologna is a kiddie sandwich. I still love it from time to time, but when it comes down to it, the Reuben is an adult meal and when it is made right there is no comparison.
Interesting that no one has tried traditional German or Dutch ring bologna? By far not a cheap or crappy food.
I mentioned the German style in the introduction. What is the Dutch version?
Its like a traditional sausage, bologna was not always a over processed lunch meat.
I have seen the ring bologna, and I grew up on Hebrew National so I am guessing you mean something like that.